Jay Z is readying his Beats Music rival Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Dr. Dre became the first billionaire of hip-hop thanks to Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music and its accompanying over-priced headphone brand. Jay Z is pretty much the only big name rapper that hasn’t imitated Dre by slapped his name on headphones. Instead, he’s decided to do the next best thing and buy a high-def music startup.

Jay Z purchased the Scandinavian music streaming company Aspiro today, adding to his array of businesses that include clothing, sports bars, and a sports agency. The takeover cost Jay Z $56 million in an effort to take on the likes of Spotify, Beats Music, and the fiery music titan Neil Young.

Spotify now has a whopping 60 million active listeners, 15 million of which are paying for a Spotify Premium subscription, the European company confirmed today. Spotify has added around 2.5 million paying subscribers in just two months — and that’s despite being given the boot by Taylor Swift.

Monster Inc, the company that help co-design the original Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, is suing Beats Electronics along with cofounders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for allegedly stealing its headphone technology.

The company, known for its overpriced audio cables, filed a lawsuit this week in San Mateo California, claiming Beats and its founders screwed the it out of millions of dollars before the company was sold to Apple last year for $3 billion. According to court documents obtained by USA Today, Monster says Beats concealed its role in the designing and engineering the headphone line, as well as its part in the manufacturing, distributions and selling of the headphones.

Could more exclusives be in iTunes’ future? Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine is in fresh talks with the world’s top musicians, in hopes of landing more exclusive album deals for iTunes, reports The New York Post.

Apple is looking to replicate the success Beyonce had with her exclusive iTunes album in December 2013, by signing other hot artists to drop their albums early on Beats Music and iTunes. But according to industry sources, the idea of artists making side deals with streaming services is not going over well with record label executives.

How to become the highest paid musician of the year: profit from a multi-billion dollar buyout of your company.

That’s the lesson to be learned from Forbes Magazine’s tally of the top paid musicians of 2014. Dr. Dre, or just “Dre” as he’s affectionately referred to by Tim Cook, amassed a whopping $620 million before taxes this year, giving him “the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history.”

Bose’s lineup of headphones and speakers were kicked out of the Apple Store earlier this year after the company filed a patent lawsuit against Beats Electronics, but now that the beef has been squashed, it appears that Apple is having a change of heart.

Apple Stores are set to bring Bose products back to shelves in time for Christmas, according to a source at iGen.fr, which claims some stores have already received inventory.

From music to MacBooks, these gifts will resonate with students. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

You might think college students are tricky to shop for, but in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth. Since they’re constantly swamped with homework and simultaneously managing a busy social life, all they want is stuff that makes their lives easier and more fun.

If you’re stressing about what to get the student in your life this holiday season, never fear. We’ve collected some great gift ideas, handpicked by college students for college students:

You’ll soon have Beats Music on your iOS device whether you want it or not.

Apple is planning to bake the streaming music service into iOS in early 2015, according to The Financial Times. The integration could happen “as early as March,” which would line up with the possibility of a media event to announce the rumored iPad Pro.

Beats will be serviced by Genius Bars starting on Tuesday. Photo: Beats

Ever since Apple bought Beats for $3 billion back in May, Cupertino has slowly but surely been integrating the headphone maker’s products and services into the official Apple portfolio. It’s added Beats Music to the Apple TV, officially listed it as an Apple app on the App Store, and rolled out a Beats by Dre section at Apple Stores.

Now it looks like Beats by Dre headphones will officially be an Apple product in the biggest way that counts: You’ll soon be able to get them repaired or replaced at your local Genius Bar.

Beats Electronics today announced it’s releasing its first new headphones since officially Apple-owned company earlier this year. The new headphones are an updated version of the Solo2 headphones, that brings wireless capabilities to the popular headphones, so you’re no longer tethered to your iPhone when kicking out the jams.